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Quick Review: Believe Me by Eddie Izzard

Phew! I did it. I only had about 48 hours to read my DRC and I just barely made it under the deadline. It helped that those last two days fell on my days off from work. I’m very glad that I got a chance to read it. Believe Me was a touching and honest memoir of man who struggled by persevered not just in his career but in his life. Eddie Izzard is mostly known for his stand up but he is also an actor and transgender. He talks openly about his sexuality and trying to identify who he is when there really wasn’t a word for it, the loss of his mother when he was six and breaking into the entertainment industry when you have no idea on how to find the door. He goes step by step throughout his life that lead him to where he is now and those who are familiar with his stand up will notice how many of his chapters are written like his shows. With a topic and then a short digression into a topic that’s related but not really related before coming back to the original thread. It’s filled with humor and grief. Hard times but good times too. He didn’t have an easy road but it wasn’t all tragedy either. He owns up to his privilege of growing up in a middle class household. How the hard work of his father not only inspired him but allowed him to be able to follow his dreams and when he wasn’t able to pay the bills, his father was there to support him. He talks about the fear of coming out and knowing that it could be the end of his career but how he had to do it. I don’t think I have ever read a more clear and detailed experience of someone’s coming out. I think most people see it as it as a one time thing. You Say I’m Gay! and that’s it but really it’s like multiple coming outs. Once to themselves, then close friends and family and then coworkers and so forth. To my LGBTQ+ friends, I hope that I have been supportive you and know that I believe that you are all brave for being you. It’s also a good demonstration that if want something you have to be willing to work for it. Eddie’s path to success had a lot of failures and a lot of unexpected detours but he used everyone of them to learn and grow and kept at it. He’s still looking for new challenges like performing his stand up in different languages to connect more with people from different cultures. Fans of Eddie will love it but I think people looking for inspiration will get a lot out of it too.